What's happened to LPF?

Trevor said:

Ahem.

Galileo Galilei - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

-Trevor

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He was neither the first nor the only. The discussion was well underway before he became involved with it. He is the "focus" because he concentrated on providing physical proof for the heliocentric system (the tides). He was also VERY wrong about the mechanism that spawns those tides.

lasersbee said:

Hey Trevor....
here is a noob that you could show some noob kindness
to... he really needs your help...

http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/what-would-happen-if-64575.html#post926731


Jerry

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You know, Jerry, you have a well developed cruel streak :eg::na:

Peace,
dave

lasersbee said:

Hey Trevor....
here is a noob that you could show some noob kindness
to... he really needs your help...

http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/what-would-happen-if-64575.html#post926731


Jerry

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I actually did stop by the thread. Considered posting. Seemed he had already bolted and any positive input from me would leave me on the wrong end of the discussion. If the OP rejoins us I'll pop by.

@Dave: I'm pretty sure you still got my point.

-Trevor

daguin said:

You know, Jerry, you have a well developed cruel streak :eg::na:

Peace,
dave

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:crackup::crackup::crackup:
I call them as I see them.....:eg:

I've posted on the other thread that Trevor would
be by to help that poor noob soul...op:

Jerry

lasersbee said:

help that poor noon soul

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Sorry, 10AM is my cutoff time for being helpful.

-Trevor

Just noticed it and is corrected.....:thanks:

Jerry

Very Long Rant response ahead. - You've been warned.

Originally I was going to start a separate thead but since this one got moved to the OT section anyway...

Tech_Junkie said:

You dont go to a new friends house and prop your feet up, jump in all the conversations

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You want a conversation to be private, USE A PM. Otherwise this is a public forum.

Tech_Junkie said:

talk about people you didnt know, and only heard others talking about.

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:wtf: are you smoking? The only time I EVER referenced a member I didn't know was in that truthdaman Hello thread, and only asked if it seemed like it might be wesdaman because of the similar names.

Tech_Junkie said:

Thats call being presumptuous, and fits you well.

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This coming from the most presumptuous person on the forum?

Tech_Junkie said:

We've been through this stuff, and we are a brotherhood of sorts. Most of us are friends here. No one knows you.

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No, YOU don't know me, frankly because I don't want you to know me. There are some great friendly people on this forum, but you're not one of them. Half the time all you do is piss on others, even call it trolling yourself, and for some reason take pride in it.

Tech_Junkie said:

Sure you can have a vote, and opinion.

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Well thank you for that great honor President Troll.

Tech_Junkie said:

But dont act like one of the guys, because you're not. You dont haven't put in the time.

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And exactly what do you suggest doing, aside from letting time pass to put in the time?

Put up funny pictures and youtube videos? Or would you prefer people just lurk? Sorry that's not me, you don't like it? Too bad.

Tech_Junkie said:

We keep trying to tell you this.

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There is a difference between "WE" and YOU. If you take a look at my posts, I do actually try to help people out quite often. When I don't have anything to add to a thread I don't, but when I see something missing, I will respond. Isn't that the point of a community forum?

Tech_Junkie said:

You'd think you'd figure it out and accept it, but you keep going, and keep throwing in "I know I'm a n00b, but I demand you accept me". Sorry, but I dont accept you.

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You don't accept me. BOO HOO, I'm crying, my life is over.

Guess what, I really don't care what you accept, or don't accept. Let me put it another away, YOUR opinion does not matter to ME. There are plenty of others on here who I respect a lot on here though.

So far you're the only one I keep having to defend myself to... why is that?

Tech_Junkie said:

I hate when you talk about members you dont know,

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Just to be clear, is this what you're talking about?

Btw, anyone else find similarities to another famous forum troll... wesdaman?

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If so, than get over it, it was a short simple question, yet you take it to be some kind of an affront to your elite LPF historian status.

Tech_Junkie said:

I hate that I have to talk to you in every thread I post, because you've posted in all of them.

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Hold on, so you're angry because I post in the same threads that you do? Has in occurred to you that people on a hobby forum might share similar interests?

So if you like brunettes and have a brunette girlfriend - are you also angry at all men who like brunettes?

Tech_Junkie said:

And I hate the fact you're demanding we accept you.

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The forum is a nice and accepting place, I also try to be very open minded.

Seems like you want some kind of an initiation process or something though.

Tech_Junkie said:

Out of all your post I dont know your name, how old are you, what you do for work, ect.

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I already answered this before, except for the name which I don't want to put into the forum to be searchable. Anyone is welcome to PM me though, and plenty of people do know my name, you're just not one of them.

Ask yourself this, would you want to share any important information with the local self proclaimed jerk?

Tech_Junkie said:

Not that I care, but if you want acceptance then you have to be social, instead of throwing your opinion into everything.

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Actually I try to be quite social, but again, not with you. I don't like to socialize with people who will use everything they know to troll me better.

Tech_Junkie said:

Sure I'm opinionated, but I know what I'm talking about most times.

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Point me to an area where I was COMPLETELY out of line?

Tech_Junkie said:

I dont care how much you read, until you've been there it means nothing. Period.

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So history is not something you like for people to know, or be able to reference, or ask a simple question about?

I mean again this is going back to a one line question in a previous thread. What is your hangup with it?

Summary Response to rant: TJ you're a hypocrite. You criticize me while you yourself are guilty of the of the same actions, and even worse ones.

You got me thinking to my first build. Poor DTR, he sold me a diode and got bombarded with 100 pm to follow the sale. Now had he chased me off, I wouldn't be here providing you all with hosts heatsinks and custom work requests. We all need to play nicely with one another.

Ray J Neal said:

You got me thinking to my first build. Poor DTR, he sold me a diode and got bombarded with 100 pm to follow the sale. Now had he chased me off, I wouldn't be here providing you all with hosts heatsinks and custom work requests. We all need to play nicely with one another.

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I guess you lurked a long time before you did your first build? Considering DTR's join date is close to mine, but you've been around much longer.

Yes sir. Played with quite a few before building my own.

Well everyone, this has been one heck of a provocative read. -long winded response coming. Get snacks and a drink if you want to read it all.-
If I might relate my experiences for the masses :
I was lucky enough to stumble on this site after watching one of those well talked about Kipkay videos on Youtube. A search for parts that he indicated but weren't available from his listed supplier linked to this forum I believe it was.
I lurked for 4 - 6 weeks trying to get an idea what was going on. (I've never been part of a forum or BBS or any sort of networking community before.) Sooo much here and soooo much to learn but it is all in a very informal and somewhat unstructured format. For someone like me that is new to the whole process it is a bit difficult to figure out.
At the same time I had a few hundred bucks from a one time work bonus in my pocket and was hoping to make a slightly educated purchase of some sort of laser product. There's the rub. I was in a bit of a hurry but I needed to know a few important things to base my decision on. So after trying a few searches and not understanding enough about the results I reluctantly posted a couple of NOOB questions that, I will admit, are answered more than once in a number of places here. The trick is to find them all. Mostly it isn't too hard, but it can take a lot of time.
I received a slightly tempered version of the (I'll call them) pokes and jabs from the usual associates here. (Not naming anyone ! If you think it means you then perhaps you might need to reflect on your own assessment of yourself.)
Now people who know me will tell you that I'm a very laid back and thoughtful person. (That is, I like to think a lot about many things before picking what I choose to say/write.) So I figured that as at that time several posts, for the most part, had the same thing to say then there is more than a reasonable chance that I have commited a faux-pas that warrants some rectification on my part.
I have had a couple more "pokes and jabs" thrown my way and I will admit that to some extent I probably deserved it. Usually I am guilty of not having stated my postion clearly enough. A lot can be misinterpretted when you keep the postings short and simple. But that's what this forum is about. I'm still struggling to keep it that way most of the time.
I've got a thick skin and it takes a lot to get me fired up. (Mostly I think it's now because I'm too old and I need to conserve my energy.) But I will admit that I was tempted to find another resource for information. Staying here has pointed me to many other sources of information though.

I agree with several concepts posted.
1. A simple test to join that requires knowledge from being here(lurking) a while or using the search seems like it isn't too much of an imposition. And like it was said it could add some form of control to unwelcome advertising.
2. As Moh' stated, unfortunately the search results aren't reliable. I have had some problems getting results. I'm not sure what could be done to refine it.
3. Posting completely unhelpful comments is a waste of space & time for everyone who reads the thread. It also becomes a mitigating factor in the redundancy of postings from NOOBs.
4. There's a secret handbook, handshake and more ??? Ooooooooo I gotta stick around for that ! And I might even be able to pay the $50.00 by then too. Ummm, how would you go about repo'ing that after I don't pay the second month ?
5. Dave : You are a pretty deep soul. Your wisdom is tempered nicely by your patience. You wouldn't, by chance, be the guy they send for the repo would you ?
6. TJ : I'm getting tired of trying to poke your avatar in the eyes in a classic Stooge move. Didn't I read here somewhere that you are starting to believe more & more that you bear a resemblance to him ? At least if you come to collect I know what to do to distract you.
7. Infinitus : You have helped me with a couple of your posts. Thank-you. You have responded the way I would have a few times too when I'm lurking from work and can't respond. Much obliged.
8. Modern society is grooming the youth of today to expect instant gratification. Look around you and try to find something that isn't "faster", "bigger", "better", or any of those other marketing catchphrase propaganda terms versus the same item from a short while ago. It isn't completely the fault of the young NOOBs that they think that they should get their results now ! With positive comments even they may grow old enough to find that their young will be even more annoying than they are. Just gentley guide them to the first step in that process.
9. I write these things waaaaay too long. I have more I want to put down but you have suffered enough. Besides, you probably need a bathroom break by now for that drink you had at the beginning...Now I need to go to that jokes thread.

Great OP! +rep (oops, says I have to spread some more around first)

Just saw this thread and find it an interesting topic...

As has been said, we were all noob's at one time, and had our share of the kind of questions that have been asked so many times before.

But these days, the forum is so huge (as Dave pointed out), that it's non-stop noob questions.

Which is good actually, but it gets tiring is all...

As TJ pointed out, usually some newer 'enthusiastic - just learned' type of guys jump in and share share share...

We need that more and more!

This will not get better. The more the forum grows, the more noob questions will come.

There's probably not a good answer to fix it...

LPF is getting so big, that there almost could be a 'Beginner Area' for the forum.

But who wants to moderate that headache! :crackup:

In the end, all we really need to do, is remember that we most likely had some similar questions at one time or another, and try to be patient and helpful if we can...

And also, no matter how much we have learned, there are people out there that will be able to help us learn more with things that we have not learned about yet! So we all may have a few questions left to ask ourselves! :beer:

You guys act like this is the only forum that is having this problem. Believe me I've been a member for years on 5 different forums and they all have this shift in community.

Simply put it's not the progression of the hobby that is causing all this negativity, it's a shift in societal traits, and the fact that you can now buy powerful lasers easily and cheaply. This forum is mostly kids under the age of 17 who act like their geniuses because they bought or figured out how to make a blue laser than burns. Once they're on the other side of the knowledge curve they act like they've been here forever and have seen it all. I see shifts in behaviors many times.

When I first came to this forum it was to get advice on how to extract a DVD burner diode. Everyone was extremely helpful. It was great. So I stayed. I remember paying over $500 bucks for a 60mW 532nm laser from LaserGlow back in 2005!!! Yeah they used to cost that much!! So imagine my enthusiasm when I learned that you could build a 200mW 635nm laser out of a $20 dollar DVD burner!

But as laser diode technology got cheaper, more efficient, and more attainable, the floodgates opened up to a sea of Kipkay fans that wanted to pop balloons.

Then companies like Wicked Lasers got is on the scene. At first everyone on this forum hated WL. They knew they sold underspec, over-driven, and overpriced crap. DIY was really the only way to go at the time. Trade between members was flourishing. Guys like Herccusciences and Jayrob were still selling completed units and it was pretty rare to have colors other than red and green.

As time went by BluRay hit the scene and I remember group buys for PS3 sleds. People were ecstatic over 15mW of 405nm. I remember buying the sleds I wanted and building the lasers I wanted, but I took a break form the forum for almost a year and when I came back, all of a sudden everyone loved Wicked Lasers and the the 445nm diodes were just starting to pop up on eBay for 500 bucks a pop. I think a few members bit the bullet only to have group buys for a watts worth of 445nm for $50 in the the BST section pop up, lol.

And then... the Arctic....

Jesus... if you where here before you know what I mean. Everyone and mother was freaking out over how cheap it was, and how cool it looked, and... oh boy oh boy... blah blah blah!!!

A sea of excited 12 year-olds peppered the boards and a giant WL thread grew by 10 pages a day. When they finally got into buyers hands... that's when the shit hit the fan. People didn't want to believe that they paid $200 bucks for a gilded piece of shit that was likely to explode at any moment. Wicked got a sea of refund request and people were waiting months to get their money back. Meanwhile I'm shaking my head and am trying not to laugh. They all knew Wicked was full of crap and look... and now they have a dual sided Arctic called the Vador or some shit, I forget, just to piss of Lucas even more.

It used to be just a bunch of DIY guys sharing information, but it's turned into a "whose got the most colors in their signature" pissing contest. Lasers have become so mainstream that some members don't bother with the DIY stuff and just use mommy's Mastercard to import them illegally from all over the world, then they act smug and put down the supposed "noob" who are willing to dabble in the DIY side of the hobby.

So their is a brief history of LPF since the start of 09 for ya.
But I'm happy to be here, shit n' all. I've never put someone down for not using the search function. I may not be willing to reply to every single help me thread, but I'll engage every once in a while.

-Tony

Other than the $5 'newwish' pens I have, and the 589 and my 30mw 473 labby.. I've built every laser I own so speak for yourself. heh. I also have no love for WL nor do I own an arctic. (or any other laser from them)

And actually, since I broke the diode in the 589.. if it ever works again.. it will be a frankenlaser that will be half DIY since i'm trying to transplant the cavity into a defunct 473nm labby housing.

InfinitusEquitas said:

I don't want to take this thread completely off topic though, so please I'd love to pickup that discussion in the Other section.

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InfinitusEquitas said:

@TJ - I'd love to rant back, but don't want to start a flame war in this thread since it would take things completely OT

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InfinitusEquitas said:

Very Long Rant response ahead. - You've been warned.

Originally I was going to start a separate thead but since this one got moved to the OT section anyway..

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ROFL, I got ya. :eg:

You're such a tool. :crackup::crackup::crackup:

Your humble Troll Overlord,

TJ

Kind of funny how this was discussed 3 years ago..http://laserpointerforums.com/f61/newbs-same-old-questions-news-item-added-39339.html

qumefox said:

Other than the $5 'newwish' pens I have, and the 589 and my 30mw 473 labby.. I've built every laser I own so speak for yourself. heh. I also have no love for WL nor do I own an arctic. (or any other laser from them)

And actually, since I broke the diode in the 589.. if it ever works again.. it will be a frankenlaser that will be half DIY since i'm trying to transplant the cavity into a defunct 473nm labby housing.

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That's good to hear man. This forum needs guys like you.
I'm the same way.

In 2005 I got letter from the FDA giving me hell about the 62mW green laser I bought from LaserGlow. It was a headache. Eventually I just returned the damn thing.

Since then I've never imported a >5mW laser except for a $25 50mW pen laser from LED shoppe last year.

Building lasers is a fun hobby but I totally understand why the USA doesn't want them imported.

-Tony